I participated in the Abandoned Art Swap in which everyone made pieces of art with the intention of abandoning them in public places to be found by others. I have always loved the distressed, grungy look of some altered art and took that to be my muse in approaching this project. I also challenged myself to only use supplies that I had on hand at home because I, as I'm sure some of you can relate, have a tendency to pick up cool art supplies and then never actually get around to using them when I get home. Case in point: I got some rusting medium a year or so ago and never even opened the package! Well that's changed now

I love shrines and wanted to do a couple of mini ones for the swap. This first one is inspired by Byzantine iconic art and uses a junky old doll toy that I covered in the rust medium. Interesting doing that on plastic, it gave it a really neat patina, not really rusty but definitely aged.

I also rusted the altoid tin, used a bit of vintage dictionary paper, and other odds and ends about the house. I must add that this was definitely a test of restraint, as I feel like when I try to do altered art type stuff I tend to overcrowd my pieces with "stuff". So I like the simplicity of it. This one definitely felt "done" to me.

I did a second altered tin as well, using the rusting medium with a doll hand. This one was a bit more challenging to get to the "finished" point and even then I'm still not sure. I had a texture paste I used to give the tin "innards" a bit more interest - I didn't want to do the same icon type style as the last tin. I'm really proud I got the nails to stay on the top too

Edited to snag a good detail picture Onyxnox took:

Then I switched gears a bit to some more freeform altering. I've had this star for a while that I bought from Michael's two years ago - it had to be used. And a brass bug, more texture paste, a juice can lid, vintage paper, paint, rust, etc. It definitely gets across the grungy factor. Not everyone's cup of tea but I like it. Oh and my favorite part is how the rust medium reacted to the brass turning it blue.

Ok another freeformed object I started with a juice can base - the star key....or key star. It actually has magnets mounted on the back of it. I feel like this one may have been slightly too simple but I really like where it stands. Ah well, I still have it if sudden inspiration hits me to add something to it.

I'd love to hear thoughts, comments, suggestions on ways to improve. thanks so much for looking!

I'm not really into "shrines" but I love the look you've created!! The rust and texture is really cool! You have such a great sense of imagination and these are all really great! I like both of the juice lid pieces! Great job!